Month of May , 2008

Since World TeamTennis began in the 1970s, Billie Jean King was often approached about setting up shop in the nation's capital. Well, in a nearby suburb, anyway.
 
Finally, someone came forward with a plan to put a team right smack dab in the heart of downtown D.C. -- and that made it a perfect fit, as far as King is concerned. So the Washington Kastles will join World TeamTennis this summer, playing home matches in a 2,020-seat temporary stadium set up in a parking lot where the city's convention center used to stand at 11th and H Streets.
 

The Grand Prix de SAR La Princesse Lalla Meryem's biggest and highest-ranked draw was nearly sent packing but wouldn't give up, as Spain's Anabel Medina Garrigues moved into the quarterfinals of the Tier IV event with a hard-fought win over Sesil Karatantcheva.
 
Medina Garrigues came to Fès with a wide lead over the rest of the field in the rankings, at No.34 weighing in 15 spots ahead of the next-highest player. She has also won six of her seven Sony Ericsson WTA Tour singles titles on red clay, making her the firm favorite at this event.
 

Rafael Nadal took his remarkable record to 100 wins in his last 101 matches on clay by beating fellow Spaniard Feliciano Lopez 6-4 6-3 to reach the Barcelona Open quarter-finals.

 Second seed David Ferrer came through a gruelling 4-6 6-4 6-3 struggle with Nicolas Lapentti to reach the quarter-finals of the Barcelona Open on Thursday.

However, Argentine third seed David Nalbandian suffered a surprise 6-3 6-1 defeat by Stanislas Wawrinka of Switzerland.

Spaniard Ferrer looked on course for a straightforward win when he led 3-0 in the first set but in the end it took him two hours, 31 minutes to wear down the Ecuadorian.

Fernando Gonzalez survived a difficult day for seeded players at the BMW Open.

The second-seeded Chilean reached the quarterfinals of the red clay event Thursday when he rallied from a set down to top unseeded Belgian Kristof Vliegen, 1-6, 7-5, 6-3.

Gonzalez was the only seeded player to advance, as both No. 4 Igor Andreev of Russia and seventh-seeded Belgian Steve Darcis were bounced from the tournament.

Rafael Nadal has made a thinly veiled attack on the ruling body of the men's game, saying that the ATP's crowded calendar is ruining tennis in Europe and endangering the longevity of players' careers.

The Spaniard, who next month will bid to win the French Open for the fourth consecutive time, said he had virtually given up hope of the situation changing for the better.

Second seed Gisela Dulko eased into the quarter-finals of the Grand Prix de SAR La Princesse Lalla Meryem in Fez on Thursday with a comfortable straight-sets win over France's Emilie Loit in the second round.
 
Argentinian Dulko hardly had to break sweat as she posted a 6-3 6-2 triumph over Loit to take her place in the last eight alongside top seed Anabel Medina Garrigues.
 

Gisela Dulko followed top seed Anabel Medina Garrigues into the quarterfinals of the Grand Prix de SAR La Princesse Lalla Meryem with a straight set win over one of her nemeses on Thursday afternoon.
 

The Top 4 seeds swept into the quarterfinals of the $145,000 ECM Prague Open on Thursday without the loss of a set, setting up a fantastic final eight line-up for Quarterfinal Friday at the Tier IV event.
 

The top four seeds cruised into the last eight of the ECM Prague Open on Thursday.
 
Top seed Vera Zvonareva advanced courtesy of a walkover after Slovakian wildcard Magdalena Rybarikova pulled out with a back injury.
 
Third seed Victoria Azarenka and fourth seed Katarina Srebotnik recorded convincing wins - 6-2 6-2 over Tatiana Poutchek and 6-0 6-2 against Melinda Czink respectively.
 
Second seed Shahar Peer was made to work a little harder before overcoming Tsvetana Pironkova 7-5 6-2.

While the world of professional tennis at times consists of lavish player parties, exotic locations, first-class flights, and big paydays, it is still a community that is affected by tragic events, bringing a reality check and some much needed perspective to the sport.
 

Sorana Cirstea upset Jelena Jankovic in February's Fed Cup tie and now the 18-year-old Romanian has rejoined Jankovic on Octagon's roster.
 
Octagon announced the re-signing of Cirstea to a representation agreement. Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed.
 
Currently ranked No. 98, Cirstea has reached a career-high WTA ranking of 73 and is regarded as one of the game's most talented young players.
 

The Top 4 seeds were all in action in the ECM Prague Open quarterfinals on Friday, and with the exception of one, it was a strong day for the favorites at the $145,000, Tier IV event.
 

Second seed David Ferrer came through his second tough battle in as many days to reach the semi-finals of the Barcelona Open with a 7-6 6-4 win over Spanish compatriot Tommy Robredo on Friday.

The world number five, pushed hard by Ecuadorian Nicolas Lapentti in the previous round, battled past the sixth seed in a match lasting two hours, five minutes.

He will play 14th seed Stanislas Wawrinka for a place in the final after the Swiss fought off the challenge of another Spaniard, Albert Montanes, 6-3 6-7 6-4.

Rafael Nadal is storming toward another Open Sabadell Atlantico championship.

The top-seeded Spaniard advanced to the semifinals of the claycourt event Friday with a 6-4, 6-2 win over unseeded Argentine Juan Ignacio Chela.

Nadal is gunning for an unprecedented fourth consecutive title here and the 21-year-old hasn’t been met with much resistance.

He has won 18 straight matches at this $1.39 million tournament and has taken 23 consecutive sets dating to 2006.

Alert fans one post down have already called our attention to the strikingly rebellious statements made by Maria Sharapova at her weblog in recent days. I'm going to reproduce the comments here, to save you having to poke around. . .
 
From her official website:

Statement May 1 2008
 

Top-seeded Frenchman Paul-Henri Mathieu reached the semi-finals of the Munich Open on Friday with a 6-2 4-6 6-3 win over Croatian teenager Marin Cilic.

The world number 18 will face 22-year-old Italian Simone Bolelli in Saturday's semi-final. Bolelli converted his two break point opportunities to edge Lee Hyung-taik of South Korea 6-4 7-6.

In the other half of the draw, second-seeded Fernando Gonzalez of Chile dismissed former world number one Marat Safin 6-3 7-5.

Second seed Gonzalez needed 1hr 30min to come through a 6-3 7-5 winner against Safin , who was playing his first ATP quarter-final since August 2007, at the Munich Open.

Maria Sharapova hit out at the ruling body of women's tennis for making her take part in a publicity shoot on the eve of the Italian Open.
 
"I want all my fans to know that the WTA Tour is forcing me and several of the other top players to do a four-hour commercial shoot for WTA Tour marketing materials," she said ahead of the tournament which begins on May 12.
 
"They want me to do this shoot on Sunday, Monday or Tuesday of the Rome tournament after flying 12 hours from LA," the Russian added.
 

Three of the Top 4 seeds and an unseeded player will make up the semifinals of the Grand Prix de SAR La Princesse Lalla Meryem after the quarters of the Tier IV event took place Friday.